Semi-canvas shoes for govt school students

Owing to resource crunch, the State government has decided to distribute free semi-canvas shoes, instead of leather ones, to government school students.

In the budget presented for the current year, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that Rs 120 crore would be allotted for distributing shoes and socks for 54.54 lakh government school students. But so far, the process has not begun.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Ratnakar said his department would invite tenders soon, so that students get their pair of shoes by the next academic year.

Officials said the department was holding consultations with Footwear Design Development Institute, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to determine the specifications of the shoes. While canvas seems a feasible option, the shoes will also have synthetic material on the upper sole, the officials said.

The department will also have to take the measurement of each student’s feet, which will be passed on to the manufacturer who bags the project.

Vacancies
Ratnakar said the department had begun the process for recruiting teachers to government primary, high school and pre-university institutions.

The process for recruiting 1,130 high school teachers will begin in a couple of days, while the process for recruiting 9,500 primary teachers will be completed in the next 10 days. The recruitment process for PU teachers will be delayed as there is a demand for reducing cut-off percentage for SC/ST candidates from 55 per cent to 50 per cent.

He said the government was considering changing the 75:25 ratio of recruitment and promotion. While 75 per cent is direct recruitment, 25 per cent is through promotions. There is a proposal to change this pattern to 50:50 ratio.

In all, the department has to recruit 28,000 teachers, which will be completed in a phased manner, he said.